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Monday, August 24, 2015

Today was a pretty great day! Usually the first day is a little chaotic, and maybe it was for the rest of my school, but over in art-land in my new classroom, it was fantastic! I found out just last week I would be moving from my tiny room upstairs in the gym to a mobile unit. I am thrilled to say the least! The only thing that would make it perfect is a sink, but I didn't have one in my last room either and cool whip bowls and milk jugs totally make it work. Way better than hauling all my stuff to their classrooms. We have so much room to move around and our classes are smaller this year which is a dream! I can actually have conversations with my students and not feel as if I have 25 kids talking at once. True story. ;)

So with the exception of 1 or 2 students, I am very blessed to have had all of my students for the last 4 years. That means they know my expectations and rules, so aside from reminders of procedures here and there as we work, we can jump right into art. We began the year by making painted paper. It's the perfect quick but fun project. They love to paint, they love to mix colors and paint what they want, and I love the outcome for projects later in the year. It's a win-win for all! ;)

Loading them up to dry! It's funny when kindergarten pipes up with questions about the mechanics of the drying rack. They think it magically dries the papers faster, even though I attempt to explain that it's just simply a method for storage wet artwork until it dries, they usually don't get it until about 1st or 2nd grade! :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

We had a fantastic time at camp this year! Pfeiffer University hosted us and I even had the privilege of using their art room, which was super nice! Over the course of four days, we created beachy scenes on 16x20 canvases in each group. Campers learned artsy smartsy words and about topics like seascapes, horizon lines, and the proper use of brushes and creating brushstrokes that make a realistic seascape. I did a guided drawing on the first day and we painted our skies, blending blues with white to give our paintings dimension. Day 2 and 3 we painted water and went crazy with color on our sailboats and surfboards. On the last day we enhanced our drawings using permanent markers to make the original outlines stand out. I enjoyed this group of artists this year and think they did a fabulous job on their paintings!

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I have been teaching elementary school art for 10 years. I love drawing, painting, and creating things. The only thing better than creating art, is being able to TEACH it to others! I always tell my students to color dark and heavy with colored pencils or crayons, and I often say "Color it like you MEAN it!" which is where my blog title comes from!